Skip to main content

Keep Your Domestic Violence and Marriage Fraud Out of the Charlotte Immigration Court

Charlotte, North Carolina opened its new immigration court on November 4th, 2008. We have an experienced immigration judge who has been adjudicating cases for over the past 10 years. She is fast and she is smart. She is also a former prosecutor who has NO TOLERANCE for domestic violence or marriage fraud. If your case has either of these two issues, hire a lawyer and get it taken care of LONG before you enter into her court room.

If you have a conviction for domestic violence, find a lawyer and get it reopened and plead down to anything else. Disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct, jay-walking, whistling under water…anything…! Or make sure that you get lawyer that can explain that there was never an actual conviction for domestic violence.For example, the lawyer will explain that you were charged with domestic violence and took some anger management classes but you never actually admitted any guilt. Under this scenario you do not have a “conviction” for domestic violence. Have your lawyer ready to address this issue in court EVEN before you address what your case is actually about.

Marriage Fraud. Not so easy to prove. Plenty of people take YEARS to get a divorce because it is such an emotionally messy issue to deal with. Plenty of people have relationships after marriage but just don’t take the time and effort to tie up those legal loose ends to get a divorce. That is until they or their significant other end up in immigration court.

“Does your current wife know of your recent divorce and that you married her a day after your divorce was final?”

“Yes your honor, my wife is standing right here behind me.”

“Mmmmhmmmm….”

Please be ready to submit photos, statements from friends and family from ANYONE who knows that you have a real relationship. This is particularly true if you have only been married a few days. Again, just because a marriage is new does not mean that it is not REAL. Just be ready to prove it.

The Charlotte immigration court is a great place to practice. If you have any relief under the law the judge will be more than happy to explore with you and give you plenty of time to find a lawyer. Just be aware of these issues that the judge finds troublesome. And I will end with the two words that she tells everyone in her court at the conclusion of their case.

“Good Luck.”

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

If You Are An Immigrant (even a US Citizen), Here Are 9 Things You Should Know

Are you a Naturalized U.S. Citizen, Lawful Permanent Resident, Visa Holder, or an Undocumented Immigrant? We recommend you take the following steps to protect yourself in our current version of America. The last couple of weeks have reminded immigrants, even naturalized U.S. citizens, that they were not born in the United States. Our office has received countless phone calls, emails, and social media messages from people worrying about what their family’s future in the United States holds. Most people want to know what they can do now to protect themselves from what promises to be a wave of anti-immigration activity by the federal government. Trump's Executive Order on Interior Enforcement has some provisions that should make most Americans shiver.  We recommend the following actions for each of the following groups: Naturalized U.S. citizens. In particular if you have a foreign accent, and you are traveling within 100 miles of any US Border (including the oceans

Seven Reasons Why the Georgia Legislature Should Repeal HB-87

Recently the Alabama Attorney General called on the Alabama State Legislature to repeal parts of Alabama's horrid anti-immigration law ( HB 56), because of the "unintended" consequences of the bill (frankly, what happened was not unintended). Because of the similarity between the two laws, Georgia's Speaker of the House, David Ralston was asked whether Georgia Legislature would repeal part or all of HB 87, Georgia own anti-immigration law. HB 87 has caused almost a half a billion dollars in damage to the Georgia economy (along with untold suffering in Georgia's immigrant communities) without any noted or reported positive effect. Speaker Ralston plainly stated that the Georgia Legislature would NOT do anything to repeal HB 87 . While it understandable why a politician would not admit that a pet bill he shepherded and pushed through the state legislature was simply bad law, it is also clear that Speaker Ralston is facing a challenge on his RIGHT in th

U.S. Recognizes Five-year Extensions of Venezuelan Passport

Venezuelans received welcome news this last month when the National Assembly published a decree signed by Interim President Juan Guaido on May 21, to extend the validity of Venezuelan passports for an additional five years past their printed date of expiration. The U.S. Department of State issued a  statement ,recognizing this extension for visa issuance and consular process. They also stated that Customs and Border Patrol would recognize this decree. Obtaining a valid Venezuelan passport has been a difficult, if not impossible, task that has been a source of much concern for those seeking visas to the U.S. or have pending applications for immigration benefits. This decree will allow those currently holding a Venezuelan passport that has expired to automatically add 5 years of validity from the expiration date. While this statement can provide much needed assurance, we recommend that Venezuelans who are currently applying for an immigration benefit, including travel to the U.S. w